Not Your Storybook Ending
by LostInTheDreams
Summary: Another deathfic. Aoko wants some time with Kaito that isn't embarrassing or hard on the other, will she get that time before it's too late?


OH...my spell checker is busy so any corrections will be made later (sorry for my bad use of grammar! hehehe I accidentally wrote know instead of knock but I did fix that one:)

**_I have now made the corrections, sorry it took so long but the story should flow better now :)_**

P.S. I did include a little after to make the story happier, if you don't want to read it don't...I just couldn't stop writing -_-

* * *

_**Not Your Storybook Ending**_

Detectives weren't the only ones who had problems. Aoko was sitting in her room, mulling sadly over her below average grade on a science test. It was all Kaito's fault after all, so why did _she_ have to get stuck staying after class for the next week?

That boy just didn't seem to learn when enough is enough. Their class had been working with simple chemicals used to turn coins different colors. Kaito was fascinated with how it worked, quickly asking the teacher all sorts of complicated questions with complicated answers that went over everyone's head but the magician's.

Aoko didn't mind that. What she was mad about was when Kaito started tampering with her chemicals and a penny that was supposed to come out silver came out a violent pink. The whole class thought it was cool but when Aoko picked it up, her fingers took on the same color as the coin. She'd washed them several times now and the pink hadn't even faded.

But no, Kaito didn't stop there. He continued to mess with her chemicals behind her back. Even though Aoko knew what he was doing, she couldn't catch every movement he made or see every beaker he switched. After putting in five pennies and having them come out tie-dyed, she'd had enough.

"Kaito! Quit playing around, I'm trying to get my work done!" They had a sheet to go along with the experiments and she couldn't very well put the shade of silver it had come out when it was pink. She couldn't put how many of the five pennies turned golden when they were rainbow colored!

"Come on Aoko, it's so much prettier this way." His own coins were all different shades of blue white and red, it seemed he was trying to make them turn a certain shade of purple but he hadn't had any success. Beside him lay the coins that were part of the assignment, his all either gold or silver as the task indicated.

"That's easy for you to say, you haven't even let me get one coin to come out the right way with all your tampering! Just leave me alone for a second!" Aoko was about to pour a clear liquid into a fresh beaker in the hopes that the coin would turn silver now, when Kaito grabbed her hand.

"Unless you want to see that lovely shade of lilac I've just worked out, I wouldn't put that in there." He handed her a beaker from his own table and poured in the liquid, eyeing the amount without using a test tube.

To be fair Kaito had tried to help her finish on time after she'd guilt-tripped him but class ended before she could make the gold ones. After they cleaned up, the teacher took Aoko aside and said she'd like her to stay after school to learn how it worked. The teacher understood the difficulties the girl had with Kaito involved but her students still needed to learn how the color change was accomplished.

Aoko resigned herself to remaining after, the magician had even volunteered to stay with her but Aoko knew that if he got bored while he was there, it wouldn't help anyone.

She was after school now, managing the task easily without any distractions. The teacher had even told her that if Aoko kept up the pace she would only need to stay after three more days once she completed the gold ones and the work sheet.

That brightened up her mood significantly along with the fact that she found Kaito waiting outside for her even though she told him not to.

"Why didn't you just go home? I know how to get to my own house." She made her words angry but Aoko was comforted by the boy's presence more then she would ever let on.

He just shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't have anything better to do." Kaito never really smiled at her anymore, or at least not the way he used to. The only times she had seen him actually smile were when he said something cheesy to her or had a laugh after flipping her skirt. The rest of the time he just watched the world around him, not missing any slight action or statement from within ten-feet of himself.

She sighed. Whenever she tried to have fun with him things always became complicated. Aoko was so happy when she had won those tickets for Prince Prince's concert because he would be going with her. He would have still, even though they fought, but Hakuba had been there and Kaito was a sucker when it came to Kid. When she was at the amusement park with him it wasn't any better because she was too busy worrying that the time they were spending together was just a charade to get proof for her dad.

"Kaito, want to go somewhere this weekend?" Aoko asked, she wanted at least one outing with him not to be interrupted or unpleasant for either of them. The ski trip and subsequent trip to the ice skating rink were out of the question.

"Sure why not." He was looking up at the sky, the sunset lighting his hair a strange fiery color. Kaito was the kind of person who could make himself look foolish and still get away popular. Aoko envied him that since her friends tended to shy away from her whenever Kaito got her mad enough to throw things from across the room.

"Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know, you pick." He shrugged his shoulders and put his hands behind his head.

"Anywhere?"

"Sure, why not." The magician looked at her with his eyes half closed. "Sorry for getting you in trouble."

"It's fine." She slapped him on the back a bit harder then she had intended, making him drop his hands. "This will be like compensation."

"Ow Aoko, you know you've got the strength of a bull!"

"Don't say things like that, Kaito. I am not like a bull."

He rubbed his side and she could hear him mutter _'sure you are_' under his breath.

"I heard that." She hit him again, this time she did it hard on purpose.

"Aoko knock it off!" He rubbed his shoulder where she'd gotten him this time. After scowling at her he looked away. "You know, that isn't how you ask someone on a date."

"I was not asking you on a date, I just wanted to know if you wanted to go with me!" She blushed at his words before hiding it from him. "If you're going to act that way, maybe I don't want to go with you!"

"Um" Kaito yawned and rubbed one of his eyes with the back of his hand. As they were walking his head started to nod down. Kaito tried to hide it but Aoko caught the motion.

"Kaito are you sleepy? You've been falling asleep in class a lot to." Her worried expression erased some of the anger between them.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I get distracted sometimes and lose track of the time." He yawned again, not trying to hide it anymore. "It's not insomnia or anything; I just forgot to go to sleep."

"You're the only one I know who could get distracted from sleep." She smiled at him, happy the argument had gotten lost in conversation.

_Kaito looked at her with bleary eyes. Of course he was tired. Snake had tried to trail him after the heist last night and he couldn't lead him home, so Kaito flew around until he lost the man. He made a note to himself to bring something to blow up the goon's tires if he tried something like that again._

Aoko tapped Kaito before she went up the walkway to her house. "So are you still going to go with me?"

"I said I would" The magician winked at her "or are you the sleepy one, seeing as you can't remember?"

"Whatever. I'll find out somewhere we can go this weekend, until then it will be a surprise." She smiled playfully at him, indicating that they could mess around with each other again.

"Sure."

"Kaito?"

"Um?" The boy had started walking away when her voice stopped him.

"Get some sleep, okay?"

"Sure thing, and you don't knock the door down getting in, you bull." Kaito scampered away before Aoko had the chance to get at him. He ran down the street and waved goodbye to her before disappearing.

"Kaito," she sighed to herself before making her way in the house. Why did he have to be so mean sometimes?

Aoko placed her shoes and bag at the door before entering. Today was Tuesday and she'd have to stay after school on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving Friday open for her to look around and see what they could do together. She smiled to herself. Even if Kaito was a jerk, he could be a real nice guy sometimes.

It was late now and staying after school would bother her. She wasn't as bad as Kaito, who would either be sleeping in class or disturbing it, but that didn't mean she wanted to spend her afternoons in the classroom.

Aoko turned off her bedroom light after changing into her pajamas. She went to the kitchen to get something to eat for herself since it was clear her dad wasn't home and she was too tired to make dinner. An apple and some peanut butter proved to fill her up, so she didn't need to make anything big.

After eating she made a list of the places they could go. Zoo, amusement park, the pool, definitely not the beach. She laughed to herself. It'd be boring to go to the beach if Kaito wouldn't go in the water. All the places she named off to herself were for warmer weather and she started to get downhearted when she realized their outing would be harder to plan then she thought.

The weather had her thinking about the ski trip that had first proved that any winter activity was out of the question, even though a fine layer of snow was starting to fall. It was still fun trying to learn to ski, but she didn't want to have Kaito teasing her as she tried. It was the beginning of winter but they hadn't had any snow that had stuck yet, the weather report said the one tonight would.

Well, she'd worry about everything on Friday. Aoko wanted to go to sleep early so that she'd make sure Kaito had no retorts to throw back at her if he saw her yawning.

The morning was as predicted. A fine layer of snow covered the ground and Aoko had to bundle up to make sure the cold couldn't get at her. Kaito met her outside like he did everyday since they were five, and old enough to walk to school on their own. Either Kaito's okasan or otousan had walked with them at first but the two kids seemed fine on their own.

There was a sprinkle of snow in his hair but there hadn't been any falling that morning so Aoko dimly wondered what he'd been up to before coming.

"Kaito, did you get to sleep last night?" Aoko said it jokingly, figuring the magician had to be daft to not sleep when he was that tired. She'd been wrong.

Kaito still had large bags under his eyes which he was staining to keep open. He met her gaze and just smiled.

"I slept." A large yawn escaped him "I'm just not a morning person, you know that."

It wasn't simple fatigue that she saw in her friends features, he really hadn't sleep. And for two days now.

"Kaito, why is it you always find a way to make me angry in the morning?" Aoko sighed and brushed some of the snow out of his hair. The magician turned his head to the side and leveled an angry look at her.

"I didn't even do anything!"

"Sure you didn't. Why do you have snow on you?"

Kaito shrugged his shoulders and grabbed up a handful of the delicate snow, wispy and quickly melting at his touch. He threw it up into the air and let it fall on himself. "It just feels kind of cool."

He scooped up some more and proceeded to throw it at Aoko.

"Kaito stop it!" She yelled as the snow was raining down on her. The soft flakes just brushed her skin, barely leaving a drop of water and frosting in her hair where she knew they would melt. She had to admit to herself, it was kind of fun.

She couldn't hide her smile from him. "See? I wasn't doing anything weird like rolling in it." He stuffed his cold hands into his pockets before they started walking.

"Kaito, you don't even have a scarf." She felt cold just looking at the magician. He'd worn just a light coat over his school uniform with no accessories to fight off the chill. He hadn't even brought gloves to warrant playing in the snow.

"I'm not cold." He rubbed his nose against her check and Aoko squealed at the chill. "See?"

"Gees Kaito, your freezing!"

"Am not!" He ran up to her and put his frozen hands at her neck, where he had easy access. She shrieked again and pulled herself away from his icy touch. "See? I'm all warm now!" He skittered away before she could whack him.

"And I'm cold!"

"That's your fault for being too slow!"

His smile was too wide and his eyes too dark for Aoko to forget what their conversation had been about. Her anger quickly drained from her to be replaced by worry. No matter how hard he tried, Kaito couldn't distract her forever.

"Fine, I'm sleeping over tonight then." She muttered angrily "And there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Kaito's eyes darkened a bit before relenting. "Fine, mom will be glad. You haven't slept over for ages and she likes having you there. But no tag teaming!"

Aoko smiled at what the combination of his mom and she could do.

Kaito dashed ahead of her and kicked snow in her direction that completely missed his target, most likely purposely. "Geez! Women!"

Aoko picked up a bunch of snow while he wasn't looking as she ran up behind him. Before he could turn to her, she grabbed his shirt and jacket and let the snow fall down his back.

"Aoko!" He screamed, trying to get the snow out even as it melted. "That's really cold!"

She just stuck her tongue out at him and continued walking, unafraid of payback since she knew that Kaito wasn't the type of guy to mess with her twice. He caught up to her once he shook out all the snow he could. Aoko saw the large watermark that ran down the back of his light jacket and wondered briefly if throwing the snow on him had been a good idea. Well, it would teach him to dress warmer next time.

Class went by as usual except for the fact that Kaito missed all of it. Usually he'd nap between classes and through a few of the more boring ones that Aoko couldn't fault him for. Today was different. Today he didn't wake up at all, even for lunch.

Hakuba and Akako were both watching him as well from their seats further in front of the classroom. At lunch Akako had tried to wake him. All the magician did was moan and tell her off using monosyllabic words, without lifting his head. Hakuba just smiled like he was in on some secret joke.

At the end of the day Aoko let her best friend sleep while she went to her afterschool lessons, sure he'd wake up by the time she was done.

She'd been right. Kaito was standing just outside the door when she exited after the lesson, scaring her enough to make her jump. Kaito's wide grin made her angry.

"You shouldn't scare people like that!" Aoko was happy to see that the dark marks under his eyes were almost gone and that they were no longer red. Kaito sneezed before messing with her hair.

"Life is full of surprises! You should want them or else everything gets boring!"

"Only you would think that." She grabbed his wrist which was bitting cold in her fingers. "Kaito, are you alright?"

"Just fine, it seems they turn the heating off after classes end. Weren't you cold?"

Aoko shook her head. She'd been in the science room which was further in the building, on the side braced against the wind, which explained the temperature difference.

"Are you sure you're fine?" She reached a hand up and felt his forehead burning underneath her palm. "Kaito you've go a high fever!"

Kaito touched his own head and leapt foreword experimentally into a headstand. "I feel fine. Maybe your hands are just cold." He walked on his hands for a second before righting himself. "See?"

She couldn't patronize him for anything if he was able to keep his balance, upside, while walking on his hands. Aoko had tried it when they were little after seeing Kaito pull it off and had seriously hurt herself when she let her hands fall before her feet. Kaito had made sure never to let her try it again unless they put a blanket out and he was there to supervise. Because of the childish treatment she received from him, she hadn't tried it again out or self-respect rather than failure.

When they opened the doors to the outside the cold attacked them like it was alive. The wind tore at any exposed skin and both teens shrank in on themselves.

"Maybe you were right" Kaito admitted as they walked into the headwind "Maybe I should have worn something heavier."

Aoko felt no satisfaction at being correct. After ten minutes her friend was shivering badly with his hands underneath his arms. She couldn't understand how he could put up with it. The temperature had dropped around twenty degrees and she was freezing in her padded winter jacket and scarf.

When they made it to her house, Kaito's lips had all but turned blue and his face looked like it had been burned.

"Want to come in? You're house is still a walk from here and its freezing."

The magician shook his head. "I'll be fine. See you tomorrow." She watched as he walked through the light snow still on the ground, the chill coming from the wind colder than anything. Before he got too far she ran up to him and threw her scarf around his neck.

"You can give it back to me later." She ran back to her house before he could return her gift so she missed the smile he sent her. A smile that had admittedly been saved for her since they were young.

Aoko ran in the house to find it almost as cold as the outside would have been without the wind.

"Dad!" she yelled after seeing his car parked outside "Why is it so cold in here?"

"The heater's not working right. I can't get it over sixty-five" She found him in the living room, smoking a cigarette which she dutifully took from him and put out with a _not in the house _look.

"Well, I'm going to be sleeping over at Kaito's tonight. Will you be fine alone?"

He shook his head. "I'm heading out too, so you don't have to worry, I was going to tell you I wouldn't be back until later tonight." Nakamori checked his watch before looking back at his daughter. "I'll be leaving in half-an-hour."

"That's fine." She mumbled to him. "I'll be leaving around then too."

Aoko threw he school clothes in the wash quickly before grabbing a set of pajamas out of her room and waiting for her uniform to be done. She also made a quick sandwich for herself because she knew Kaito and his mom had dinner right after he got home. Aoko took a second to feel bad for making them put it off while Kaito waited at school for her.

After all that was done she headed out with extra protection. She wore thick gloves and a winter cap over her head to keep out the cold that had bothered her on the way home. Aoko had another scarf somewhere but she didn't want to take the time to dig in all her clothes and find it. With a quick goodbye to her dad, who was also preparing to leave, she made her way outside.

Walking to Kaito's didn't take long since they only lived a few blocks from each other. When she rang the bell his mom answered instead of him.

"Oh Aoko-chan, Kaito said you'd be coming. He's in the shower right now but he shouldn't be long."

"Thanks." Aoko stripped herself of her protection and waited in the living room for Kaito to come down. His mom went back to whatever cleaning she had been doing in the kitchen before Aoko's interruption.

His mom had been wrong. Kaito wasn't out of the shower for at least twenty minutes and got a glare from both of them as he walked down the stairs with a wet hair dripping onto a dark grey t-shirt and matching sweet pants.

"What?" He looked at both of them and wondered what he'd done wrong.

"Did you use all the hot water Kaito?" His okasan scolded him. He sheepishly blushed under her scrutiny.

"Maybe."

Besides his hair being completely wet, everything around him got doused as well, as if the boy didn't care what else took a shower with him was he walked around. Kaito was abnormally paler then he should have been.

"Kaito, are you sure you're not sick?" Aoko didn't try to touch his forehead this time, since he'd been in the shower and it would affect the temperature of his skin. Again, he sheepishly blushed before giving her a dirty look.

"I said I wasn't-" he coughed roughly into his hand, showing that his would-be statement was a lie. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I'm fine."

There wasn't anything Aoko could do about it so she let it go for now. Kaito made them a cup of hot chocolate and they both sat down in his main room to watch mindless television.

When he was halfway through with his cup, Aoko made her way up to his bathroom and grabbed a pill out of a cold-fighting container. She brought it down to him and let it in her open hand.

"Take it. I think you're sick."

Kaito eyed her before reaching for the pill.

"Fine, I'm sick." Again, she wasn't happy that she had been right. She usually wasn't. Whenever Kaito was in a state of indifference or lying outright to her and she came out on top, it was usually because he'd been hiding something that he wasn't happy about. Most of the time the things he was unhappy about made her unhappy as well. Most.

Failing to flip up her skirt when she caught him did not count.

The warm chocolate lulled them to sleep soon after, even though Kaito had more than enough at school. A futon had been laid out for her in Kaito's room but he insisted that she have the bed.

Of course, an argument ensued.

"I'm a guy so I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"You're sick so you shouldn't have too!"

"You're the guest!"

"A guest who's female and should get what she wants!"

It went on like that before Aoko gave up. Kaito smirked at her as he fell asleep on the floor, a warm comforter over him that would keep him warm. Aoko didn't like conceding the fight to him but there was only so many ways to beat someone with the tricks Kaito had up his sleave. She soon followed him into a dreamless sleep.

Aoko was woken by the sound of coughing. She leaned over the side of the bed to watch Kaito try and muffle the noise in the blankets. After a few minutes of not being able to stop, she got up and fetched him a glass of water. He accepted it and tired to drink while trying not to cough it out.

"Thanks" he whispered, his voice rough and hoarse. Aoko felt his forehead again and decided he definitely had a fever.

"Kaito you should stay home today or you might make your cold worse." He only nodded to her, his eyes closed and his head still resting against the pillow.

Aoko explained to him mom that he wasn't feeling well and that she was going to go to school on her own. Kaito's mom went up to his room to check on him once she left.

…

_Kaito felt awful. He could feel the fever acting up the other day but had hoped his immune system would fight it off. I had not been a good week._

_Kaito had to fight off a copy-cat Kid just a day before his heist on Wednesday so he had barely gotten any sleep either night. Worst of all, it must have been obvious because Aoko was toting over him for the next few days. She had asked him out on a date, though she didn't use those words but he had not others for them, that weekend too. He didn't think the cold would let up by then. Sickness be damned, he was going to go._

…

Aoko was lonely in class now that Kaito wasn't in the seat next to hers. She missed his random interruptions recently, even if they often served to humiliate her in front of the whole class.

She hoped the cold medicine would work. Aoko was really looking forward to doing something with him, just for the fun of it. She had very few fond memories of any time they had spent together that hadn't included his father.

After class she still had to go to finish changing her coins gold. She was done for the most part but still had the worksheet to fill out. Her teacher suddenly reminded her that there was no school the next day when Aoko asked her about the weather.

A swift hand to her forehead reminded her that it was a Teacher Institute Day that Friday. After she cleaned up all the chemicals and finished chiding herself for forgetting, Aoko looked sadly at the doorframe that was missing her friend.

She walked home through the snow slowly. Once she was in the too-cold-to-be-comfortable house, she left a note to her dad demanding he fix the heater or get someone who could. She ate something small and watched TV until she got too tired and fell asleep on the sofa.

The next day was boring. Under sever scrutiny from his daughter, Nakamori conceded into getting someone out to their house to fix the heat. It took the man a little more then two hours and a trip in his car to have the heater up and running again. Aoko basked in the warmth, turning it higher then she should have.

"Aoko, it's baking in her!" Her father complained.

"You're going to work soon so quit your grumbling." He shut up with an angry look at his daughter. She had a point though, and he did feel at least partially at fault for the house being so cold before.

Aoko just stayed home and warm that day, unwilling or wanting to go outside. She made sure she slept in her bed this time because the living room would be the first to get cold when her dad turned the heater back off.

Kaito surprised her in the morning by ringing the bell. Aoko quickly got herself dressed and shouted a _'come in!'_ at the door. The magician was inside when she made her way down stairs and it suddenly occurred to her that she had locked the door earlier.

Dad must have left it unlock when he left, she reasoned.

"Hey Aoko!" Kaito yelled to her. "I'm going to be busy this weekend so I thought we could go somewhere today!"

"Are you sure you're feeling okay? You've only been home one day." She looked him over and did notice that his checks had more color to them and he wasn't coughing.

"Yep, all better!" He reached around her and pulled a rose seamlessly out of her ear. "For you."

She took the flower after realizing it was a real rose and put it in a small vase before it died. "Thanks"

He bowed to her in a flourish and came back up holding a small box of chocolates. "Also for you."

"Kaito, I said this wasn't a date!" Her blush made the anger in her words hard to affect him.

The boy looked around the room confused. "Who said anything about a date?" He tapped the box and pointed to the flower. "This is for making you stay after school and leaving you alone yesterday."

"You were sick-"

"I don't care. If I was smarter I wouldn't have gotten sick, neh?" He smiled "So it's my fault."

Aoko was happy that he didn't blame her for that. She was sure that put the snow down his shirt had attributed a lot to his condition, even if he wouldn't admit it. She put the box of chocolates behind a jar so her father wouldn't stumble across them when she wasn't home.

She blushed and looked down at the floor when she noticed she still hadn't come up with a place for them to go. Kaito smile in understanding.

"Then it's my surprise." He took her by the arm and led her to the door. "I'm the one who changed the date so I'll pick the place." He looked at her as she blushed more, "I didn't mean that kind of date." The blush spread and he laughed.

The cold wasn't as bad as it had been but they both wore their thick jackets and snow hats. They made there way in a direction that Aoko was familiar with, but it wasn't until they got closer that she stopped.

"Kaito, you can't ice skate."

He shrugged his shoulders. "That's why you practice. I know you like to go ice skating."

"Yeah but…"

The magician looked at her a bit confused. "What's wrong? Don't you want to?"

"I wanted it to fun this one time." Aoko looked at her feet to try and get him to understand. "If you keep falling down, it won't be."

He chastised her "Who says I'll fall down? I'm a fast learner. Don't you think I can do this?"

"Come on Kaito, let's just go somewhere else."

The magician took in the wrong way. He saw it as a challenge that she was making to him and misunderstood her intentions. Instead of feeling like they were equal, Kaito felt like she was trying to take him away because he wasn't good enough.

"No Aoko, lets skate."

"Kaito!" The exasperation in her voice didn't get her point across any better; the magician just wasn't paying attention. "Let's go."

"No."

"Fine!" She yelled at him and took off in the other direction, angry tears threatening to fall because the idiot couldn't understand. She just wanted them to go somewhere they could both have fun.

It took Kaito a minute to follow her.

"Damn it" He didn't know what Aoko was playing at but it seemed like he did something wrong every time he tried.

Aoko was a good fifteen feet ahead of him and sloshed nosily through the snow that was still on the ground.

"Damn it!" Kaito shouted louder. "Aoko wait up!"

As Kaito's footsteps sped up, so did hers. She raced down the street with him just a few feet behind. A green light in the walkway showed that she'd most likely make it across the street before he had a chance to catch up, giving her time to calm down.

What Aoko didn't see was the slush that still littered the street even as she stepped onto it. Kaito on the other hand, caught the blur of motion just as it entered his sight.

"Aoko stop!"

She still wasn't paying him any mind, too angry at him that moment to care what he had to say. She looked in time to see a small, dark car speeding at her and skidding on the snow.

She knew she had the reflexes to dodge but her feet lost traction beneath her. The diver of the car met her eyes for a second when the car hit her hard in the side.

Kaito swore and tried to run faster then his legs could take him, adrenaline forcing itself through his body. He made his way to the intersection and slid into another car that had also skidded through the light, hurting his arm and falling partially under it before he could right himself. Getting up, he ran to find Aoko.

She couldn't see anything but white. It was all around her, coating her vision in pristine dulled contentment. She heard someone yelling but couldn't tell who it was, the voice was unfamiliar. A pare of hands were touching her arm attentively but she couldn't move, couldn't speak.

She felt as those hands were push away and a new pair, this one cold and blending in with the texture of the snow around her. Aoko felt as she was moved onto her back and the cold hands brushed away the hair stuck to her face.

Aoko could have sworn for a minute that she was looking at Kid. Her brain tried to tell her that was impossible, what would the thief be doing here? The bright white of her vision made the shape so look like the phantom, though having seen so little of him herself, she couldn't be sure.

There was a voice calling to her and this one she knew. Knew more then she was sure of anything at the moment. _Who was it?_

Kaito held her gently, shaking a bit to get a reaction out of her. He could see from the moment that he flipped her over it wasn't good. Most of her ribs were broken and there was a thick trail of blood running down the side of her mouth which he tried to wipe away. It just came back, and his efforts left ugly red streaks across her check.

"You're going to be okay Aoko, I'm here." He reassured her, but the tears running down his face would give him away. She watched him with glazed eyes and he hoped that she couldn't see them. He continued to repeat her name and false reassurances.

_Who was it? _Her brain decided that it would let her know, briefly the fog cleared but it lasted a mere second. She could see Kaito, not Kid, before her with his dark hair and a mess of snow on one side of his body where he must have fallen in it. She smiled at him. _Kaito_ she tried to say but her lungs wouldn't take in the air necessary for the words. She was dimly aware of something wet touching her face. Maybe it was snowing again.

Aoko closed her eyes to sleep. She didn't know why she was so tired but she couldn't keep her eyes open.

Something warm distracted her enough that she had to try to see what it was. Kaito's face was pressed up against hers, his cheek so much warmer for once. He whispered something in her ear that she couldn't make out followed by a cough.

"Kaito" she murmured, just pronouncing his name. "You're still sick…"

She heard him laugh, "Yeah, this is where you call me an idiot."

"Idiot" she smiled, just able to see one on his face as well. Talking to him was taxing but she felt some urgent need to get him to understand something.

"Kaito…" Aoko took a breath that didn't want to come in, she felt a lot of liquid in her mouth when she spoke next. "I just wanted to have fun with you for once."

She felt as he wrapped his arms wrap around her shoulders, his face still nuzzled against hers. "It's always fun Aoko, you don't need to worry about stuff like that."

"No..." He still didn't understand. "I wanted something to do together"

Kaito took a moment to face away from her and cough. "Aoko." He made sure he was at her ear again so that she'd hear him. "We're together right now, just like we are everyday. Doesn't that make you happy?"

She barely caught Kaito's last word because it sounded like he choked on it.

"But…we always get mad at-" something cut off her words and she couldn't continue. Aoko had thought it was Kaito's weight but it wasn't. There was something hard that was pressing down on her chest.

"I'm never mad at you Aoko." He smoothed the side of her face with his hand, still keeping her cradled in the other. "Never."

As Kaito held her, he could feel her muscles relax. _Never mad at you, only myself_.

"Some messed up story-" she still couldn't finish her sentence but he understood.

"But it's our story, right? We can be as messed up as we want to." He kissed her on the lips, now covered with blood. "I wouldn't have you any other way."

Aoko felt when he did it. She couldn't help smiling, not even embarrassment had time to catch up to her. "Me too."

"Just hold on Aoko, please..." Watching Kaito, she would see more of the snow white fuzz than him. She was just so tired she didn't think that she could oblige him.

"Tired…"

"Just stay with me…"

Kaito felt the moment her heart stopped beating. He tears hadn't stopped since the moment he had her in his arms. His throat was constricting and he couldn't find the words to fend off the people around him.

He saw an MT rush up to them and take her from him. Kaito couldn't even find the strength to get up off the street. Someone tired to grab his arm and help him up but without the boy trying it was difficult.

In the end someone was able to drag him off to the sidewalk, where he continued to remain stationary.

"I'm sorry" He whispered over and over to himself, covering his head with his hands. The magician was dimly aware of others around him but he shoved them away. _I couldn't be anything for you Aoko; Not your prince, not your pauper, I couldn't even be your hero._

_I couldn't save you._

_I'm sorry._

_I love you._

**…**

**…**

**…**

Night had fallen and no one had managed to get him to move. When the magician didn't want to be caught, he wasn't. Only one steady force had remained with him since the EMT's had come. They were of slight build and had dark skin that stood out from the world around them.

"Ya have to get up. You'll freeze to death." The voice was tinted with a rough accent as they put a hand on Kaito's shoulder.

"Who cares…" his whispered words sounded truer now that Kaito had said them.

"I'm sure that girl would care a lot."

The magician's whiplash reactions couldn't be stopped and the boy fell to the ground after getting hit in the face. "What would you know?"

"Nothing." He brushed the snow off of himself. "In fact, I have no idea how you're feelin'. It's a fluke I'm even here 'cause I missed my bus. That doesn't change the fact that it's true."

The boy came back over to his side and Kaito pushed him away. After shrugging his shoulders, the other boy sat in the snow further along the sidewalk, just out of reach. "I ain't going anywhere."

_Neither am I, _Kaito thought vindictively to himself. He rested his head on his knees, trying to ignore the other boy's presence as much as he could.

It became much more difficult to ignore people when Hakuba showed up. Both he and Kaito's unwanted visitor eyed each other before the detective made his way over to Kaito.

"Kuroba-kun, your mother's worried about you, you should get home." Hakuba held none of his normal arrogant behavior. He just looked sad and a bit confused.

"So what?" The magician snapped again. No one was going to get him to move. When Hakuba tried to reach for him, Kaito jumped away, unfavorably towards his guest. The boy grabbed the back of both his arms and before Kaito could escape he yelled at Hakuba, even has Kaito expected his older companion to turn on him.

"Don't force things your way! If he wants to stay, let 'im!"

"Hattori-kun, this isn't the time to-" That name rang a bell in Kaito's head but it didn't go further then that.

"No, this _is_ the time to let him do what he wants! Can't you see how upset he is?"

Standing up, even in his visitors grasp, was tiring. Kaito allowed his legs to drop him to the floor, leaning against the other boy.

Whatever thoughts had kept him up with their conversation became lost. _Aoko, I'm so sorry_, began filling his head again and Kaito couldn't stop himself from crying in front of the other two.

The boy behind him sat back in the snow, Kaito too numb to feel it at this point, and positioned himself so his side was against Kaito's back and the magician wouldn't fall over in the snow.

Hakuba was at a loss. He decided to follow Hattori and sit on the sidewalk just a foot or so in front of them.

It was different having people there with you. Neither of them had any idea what he was feeling right now. Kaito had _let _Aoko run off on her own, mad because of something _he_ did. It was _his_ fault that she ran out in the street.

Hakuba was about to say something but Hattori put a hand up and glared at him. The detective shrugged his shoulders and continued to lean against the wall, shivering. Once Kaito noticed it, he also saw that the boy behind him was shivering too. Kaito had been smart and worn a thick jacket like Aoko said, one which Hakuba was also sporting, but the boy behind him wore a thin one that probably did nothing to keep the cold out.

"Why are you wearing that?" Kaito asked softly, his words choppy from crying.

The boy smiled at him. "Osaka isn't as cold as it is here in Tokyo, so I wasn't expectin' it."

Kaito nodded, the answer taking a while to get to his brain.

"Aren't you cold?" Kaito winced at his own words and put his head protectively back in his hands. The conversation sounded too much like the one he had with Aoko.

As it was, Hattori must have understood the reaction. He didn't reply but nestled a little closer to Kaito, partly for warmth and partly to show that he wasn't going anywhere. Hakuba looked on but didn't move, showing that he felt the same way.

After calming down a bit, Kaito took a look at his surroundings again. The street had long since cleared but Kaito had no memory of it happening. There was no blood that he could see from this distance that marked where Aoko had been and no blood marred his clothing. It was almost like it never happened.

But it had.

And there were other people hurting too.

Kaito looked back at Hakuba who had one knee partly up and his head resting on his hand. The detective's eyes were red and bloodshot. _Just think of how you would feel if you weren't even there to comfort her? _Kaito's traitorous thoughts informed him, he thought back, _And what if you were the sole reason that she died? If you had stayed home when you were sick, if you had waited until the weekend like she wanted…Would she still be alive?_

In the end there was no way of knowing. Kaito was happy that he had been there with her at least; he hadn't been for his father. He looked at both teens before turning to Hattori.

"Can you help me up? I don't think I can move my legs."

The Osaka boy nodded and got to his feet on numb legs before helping Kaito. As it turned out, Hakuba had to help as well. Kaito couldn't feel most of his body from sitting in the snow for so long.

Both of them helped him back to his house, walking in with him and taking their shoes off.

"Are you staying?" He asked them like it some something he never expected, which he hadn't. He still wasn't feeling much, mentally or physically, so his words came out hallow.

"I told ya I ani't leavin'. I wasn't talkin' about the sidewalk."

Hakuba just looked down. "There's no one at my house right now, so my reasons are a little more selfish."

"You're both weird." Kaito hadn't felt the need to pretend to smile while in either of their companies. There was something so raw about him that he didn't think he'd ever be himself again. Hattori looked up at him, smiling.

"Sometimes all ya can do is be there."


End file.
